Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church ‎#527

527. Brief life is here our portion

1 Brief life is here our portion;
Brief sorrow, short-lived care;
The life that knows no ending,
The tearless life is there.

2 O happy retribution!
Short toil, eternal rest,
For mortals and for sinners
A mansion with the blest.

3 That we should look, poor wanderers
To have or home on high!
That we should seek for dwellings
beyond the starry sky!

4 And now we fight the battle,
But then shall wear the crown
Of full and everlasting
And passionless renown.

5 For Thee, O dear, dear Country!
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep;

6 The mention of thy glory
In unction to the breast.
And medicine in sickness
And love, and life, and rest.

7 Thou hast no shore, fair ocean!
thou hast no time, bright ay!
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!

8 Upon the Rock of Ages
They raise thy holy tower;
Thine is the victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: Brief life is here our portion
• Author: Bernard of Cluny (cir. 1145)
• Translator: John Mason Neale (1851)
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1917
• Topic: The Life Everlasting: Heaven

Tune Information

• Name: ST. ALPHEGE
• Composer: Henry J. Gauntlett (1852)
• Meter: 7 6, 7 6
• Key: G Major